IV CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
SECRETARIAT OF STATE OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
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PRESS RELEASE
Council of Ministers meeting of April 20, 2011
This Wednesday, March 29, 2011, the Council of Ministers met at the Council of Ministers’ meeting room in the Government Palace, Dili, and approved:
1. Law Proposal on the Strike Law
The current diploma has the objective of regulating a constitutional right, which can be used by workers as an instrument to assert their interests. A strike provides for a collective negotiation between the workers and the employer entity towards reaching an agreement between the parties.
The Strike Law intends to balance the interests in question and to find the most correct solution, putting collective interest above individual interest, establishing vital moderation rules for the economic growth and a dynamic labour force in a country in clear development such as Timor-Leste,
The rules and respective procedures to exercise this right are defined, as well as its purpose, the right to adhere to a strike, the activities and areas in which this right is forbidden and the limitations for its exercise, illicit strikes and the respective penalization.
2. Decree-Law that establishes the Timor-Leste Qualifications Charter
The present diploma establishes the national qualifications system for teaching, based on a series of criteria and international standards, directly related with accomplished learning levels.
It is an important change in the concepts and qualification description because it allows their comparison according to the correspondent competencies and not with the methods or ways of teaching and training in which they where acquired.
The Timor-Leste National Qualifications Charter is a development instrument capable of improving and guaranteeing the credibility and the quality of the existing qualifications and their international recognition.
This measure also enables the students to make decisions about the qualifications and levels they intend to acquire, as well as identify paths for progression in their chosen carriers, within the broader system of teaching in post-secondary education. The final objective is to have more consideration for the level of acquired academic qualifications than for the place where these were acquired.
3. Government Decree about the attribution of a risk subsidy to the Timor-Leste electricity workers (EDTL)
The Council of Ministers considers it necessary to introduce an additional retributive incentive that compensates for risk exposure of the workers from the Timor-Leste electricity services (EDTL).
While exercising their functions, these workers are permanently exposed to situations of stress and physical risk due to several factors, namely: noise, vibrations, thermal environment, manipulation and transport of loads, electric risks, fires and explosions.
This remuneration subsidy has the objective of compensating for these risks, trying to correspond the EDTL workers’ salary level to the degree of responsibility and the specific demands of the respective activity.
The Council of Ministers also analysed:
1. Peace Dividend Trust
The Peace Dividend Trust is a non-profit organization, created in 2005, that establishes a connection between the local producers and international buyers, to help direct international investment to the local economy, reinforcing the private sector and increasing employment.
The organization made a presentation to the Council of Ministers on the ongoing project in Timor-Leste (which finishes at the end of July this year) with the purpose of extending it, by adjusting it to the National Development Strategic Plan.